Follow the Writers In Tandem, David and Abby, as they go on adventures in search of the best places for food, vacation spots, and affordable deals.

Shao Kao Grillery – “Tasty Bits of Heaven on a Stick”

We never thought this day would come folks; we found a place that actually made us enjoy vegetables more than meat. As self-proclaimed meatatarians(it’s a real thing, it even has a wiki page!), meat is always the most important part of any meal. Until today. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen – Shao Kao Grillery has completely opened our eyes. Grilled vegetables are a magical thing, and this place knows how to do it right.

It was a lazy Monday afternoon and we were hungry. Not wanting to wait for some meat to thaw out so we could cook, we finally had the chance to try out Shao Kao Grillery over off of Maginhawa Street(aka ‘Eat Street’). We were craving something simple and delicious, and had been meaning to try this place for some time now.

It’s a simple looking place with a simple menu – which happened to be exactly what we were looking for. With the grilled vegetables ranging from 10-35php per stick, we were happy to try just about everything. Since we didn’t know how large the portion sizes would be, we started off with just a small order – lamb kebab for me, lamb leg chop and Hungarian sausage for David, and various grilled vegetables including broccoli, potatoes, white onions, beans, tomatoes, eggplant, and young corn. And of course; some rice to go with it all(we are in Asia, are we not?).

All of the items were grilled with a bit of a saucy marinade that just made everything taste spectacular. It was just the right amount of salty and flavorful and it paired perfectly with everything. The tomatoes were sweet, the lamb kebab was tender, the onions were grilled to perfection. The sign outside of Shao Kao defines their food as “tasty bits of heaven on a stick” – and no truer words have ever been spoken.

The staff was very friendly, despite the fact that we made them work hard – I think we added more onto our order 4 or 5 times while we were sitting there eating but they didn’t complain and just fired up the grill every time; the food was just so amazing that we couldn’t resist eating more and more of everything. While the meat was delicious too(lamb is a rare treat for us), the grilled vegetables just could not be beat.

One real tell-tale that this place was good? The amount of rice that I ate. I am a sauce-lover, and if I don’t have a saucy food to pair with it, I don’t tend to eat that much rice with my meal. Since our order was all grilled kebabs, I saw no reason to order any rice. Well, David ended up having to ask for 2 additional orders of rice because I kept stealing all of his! The food was so amazing and juicy and flavorful that the plain rice just complimented it perfectly. When we finally stopped ordering more food, we left super full and super happy with our meal.

We are new to Maginhawa Street(as it’s a bit far from our place), but so far, ‘Eat Street’ is 2 for 2 – both of the restaurants that we have tried here(previously, we ate at Alfarsi Persian Grill when we tried to visit Shao Kao before but they were closed) have more than exceeded our expectations. I think we have a new favorite place to hit up when we’re hungry and I have a feeling we’ll be back very soon!